Comments: 'Public urge 'Barry' to step down'

Dec. 15, p. 2

The life story of Barack Obama has become an inspiration for people across the globe, including Indonesia. But for more than 6,000 Facebook users, erecting a statue of the US President in a park in Menteng, Jakarta, is too much.
Just a few days after the Central Jakarta municipality unveiled the bronze statue of Obama as a boy
at Menteng Park, experts and a group of Facebook users have jointly demanded the city administration dismantle the statue for “insulting national pride.”

Your comments:

There are people who oppose the erection of the statue of a “little boy” who grew up in Menteng and is now the president of the United States of America.

Hyperbole! Jeez! Are you so afraid of a statue featuring a little boy? This kid is a symbol of hope for the children of Indonesia and nothing else! Let’s not be naive.

Those who oppose it have hidden political agendas.

Lorremat
Jakarta  

I can sympathize with those who genuinely believe that this statue should never have been erected.

Whether or not the statue should have been erected is open to debate, but it has been and should now stay.

It would send an appalling message should it be taken down, and could well be seen as an insult to America and more directly to Obama.

If a mistake was made, by Indonesians here in Indonesia, just live with it.

Don’t go creating the usual large stink that does no good whatsoever for our already bad reputation.

Indonesia does not live in a bubble, we are part of a global community and need to start acting responsibly. And to those who spend their lives jumping on bandwagons, get a life.

Didi Karjadi
Bandung